Instant Pot Vegan Mac and Cheese

Instant Pot Vegan Mac and Cheese is a staple for any busy family wanting to get a healthy dinner on the table quickly and effortlessly.

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Instant Pot Vegan mac and cheese. It’s totally a thing, and it’s a thing you are going to want to know about if you’re trying to adapt a dairy-free/plant-based lifestyle as a busy lady. Because truly, mac and cheese is life.

It’s comfort food at it’s finest. It’s a bowlful of warmth that reminds you of your childhood, although WAY better than what came in the blue box. What the heck was in the packet of powder anyway? It definitely wasn’t cheese!

using butternut squash and pumpkin as the “cheese” base. good, but not quite authentic or comforting.

using this recipe I’m sharing with you today – SO yummy, but it still took time to cook the veggies, then the noodles, then blend the sauce, then mix it together.

The thing is, this mama is busy, and I’m guessing that you are too!

Whether you’re working outta the home or you’re a busy mom at home wearing //all the hats// you’re feeling the pressure, and trying to make healthy meals for your family is just adding to the ever-growing to-do list.

So instead of taking on all the pressure yourself, how about you hand it on over to something that knows exactly how to handle the pressure… the INSTANT POT! (see what i did there???)

Do you have one yet?

I absolutely love the pressure cooker for so many things (even with a plant-based diet):

And if you eat eggs, they really do make the most perfect hard-boiled eggs ever, and the shells literally just come right off.

So if you don’t have the instant pot yet, you’ve got to get yourself one, and you’ll save so much time! This is the one I have.

For this specific recipe, I am using a couple of other products to divide the sauce ingredients from the noodles.

First, I put this trivet over the mac noodles. Then I add this pan on top of the rack to put all the veggies and cashews into.

Using those tools for your instant pot mac and cheese allows you to cook the noodles at the same time as your vegan cheese sauce ingredients. Then you just pull out the cheese ingredients, throw them in the blender for like 30 seconds, and pour it all back over the noodles in the instant pot. EASY!

But a big question I know you have –

Does this instant pot vegan mac and cheese actually taste like real mac and cheese?

no.
but it’s close.

As a vegan, I think we’re all trying to find something – ANYTHING – that matches the taste of cheese. The truth of the matter is that nothing really does. And you kind of have to learn to accept that.

But with this vegan mac and cheese, we’re really close to hitting that mark. You’re getting a creamy texture you get from a traditional mac. You’re getting a new flavor palate that does resemble mac.

AND you’re hiding veggies in dinner, and your kids won’t even know it! TOTAL win.

Of course, the recipe is below, but if you need a little visual help, I’ll throw in a video to make it even easier for you.

Print

INSTANT POT VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE

Instant Pot Vegan Mac and Cheese is a staple for any busy family wanting to get a healthy dinner on the table quickly and effortlessly.

Ingredients

16 ozdried elbow macaroni

1Tbspolive oil

4cupswater

1/2cupraw cashews

1cuppotatopeeled & chopped

1/2 cupcarrotspeeled & chopped

2garlic cloves, minced

2Tbspvegan butter

1/4cupwater

For sauce

1cupunsweetened almond milk

3/4cupvegetable broth

1tsp onion powder

1 1/2tspsalt

1/2tsppaprika

3Tbspnutritional yeast

2 1/2Tbsptapioca flouror corn starch

2Tbspfresh lemon juice

Instructions

In pressure cooker, elbow macaroni, olive oil, and 4 cups of water to cover the pasta.

Place trivet on top of pasta and set cake pan on top of trivet (see links for product details).

Carefully remove cake pan from the pressure cooker and pour all ingredients in pan into your blender. Add all sauce ingredients to the blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds, or until completely smooth.

Add sauce mixture back into the pressure cooker on top of the noodles, and stir. The sauce will be thin at first, but as you stir, it will become a thicker sauce within a few minutes.

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Hey there! My name is Holly, and I am passionate about enjoying all foods without guilt, judgement, or failure. Food shouldn’t have a “good” or a “bad” label. After years and years of dieting and having a bad relationship with food and my body, I am finally at place where food is not the enemy, and I want nothing more than to help other women get to this place with me!
I live in the beautiful state of Utah with my son and the love of my life. I’m a coffee obsessed, yoga-practicing, Zumba-rockin’ nerdy tattoo-lovin’ Air Force wife, and I’m so excited to share my story, experiences, and lessons with you.

This website contains affiliate links. I include these links to help you find either specific {or my favorite} products that are used in my recipes and in my life to stay healthy. If you purchase an item from the link on Happy Food Healthy Life, I will receive a small commission helping keep my recipes free for you. Thank you for your support!

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